The National Search and Rescue Secretariat recently announced that the City of Chambly, Quebec will be receiving the Award of Excellence 2014 in the innovation category for its involvement in the development of the Sea-Doo SAR, a watercraft designed exclusively for search and rescue professionals.

The award will be presented at the SARscene 2014 conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario on November 2nd. The Mayor of the City of Chambly, Denis Lavoie, and the Director of the Fire Department of the City of Chambly, Stéphane Dumberry will be receiving the award.

The presenter, SARscene 2014, aims to stimulate discussion and collaboration among people and agencies within search and rescue, emergency and consequence management. It is the largest national search and rescue conference in Canada.

The Sea-Doo SAR watercraft was developed by BRP in partnership with the Chambly Fire Department. It was unveiled earlier this year during the Fire Department Instructors Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. BRP worked closely with the Chambly Fire Department to develop the Sea-Doo SAR watercraft as a utility vehicle dedicated to life-saving professionals. The Sea-Doo SAR watercraft combines the features rescue professionals need to respond in life-threatening situations. You can see the Sea-Doo SAR in action below.

“At the Chambly Fire Department, we wanted to minimize the risk of injury to our water rescue team while improving the performance of our watercraft. We worked with BRP engineers at developing a safe, robust yet powerful and nimble SAR watercraft, one tailored to our needs,” said Nicolas Drapeau , Deputy Fire Chief.

The Sea-Doo brand was embracing the watercraft industry leadership position in 1995 and product development was progressing at an astounding pace. Two new Rotax marine engine platforms were introduced in 1995, the 717 twin-cylinder and the 787 RAVE (Rotax adjusting variable exhaust) engine. The 717 engine was nestled into the new Sea-Doo XP hull code named the X4 hull that spawned from learnings from the companies race teams. This hull’s design included a nose section dropped down and extended the transom with interchangeable trim tabs for greater surface area touching the water for better handling than the previous version hull.

The headliner of the 1995 line was the new Sea-Doo HX watercraft. The Sea-Doo HX featured a very aggressively designed hull with extreme keel angles and ultra narrow running surface for slicing through chop and a pronounced inward angled gunnel chines to allow the machine to lean into turns similar to a motorcycle with the industry’s first production suspension seat that compressed with the g-forces of a turn to lower the rider’s center of gravity and absorb shock in straight line chop. The Sea-Doo HX was inspired by the dolphin and the design characteristics can be seen in the shape of the HX. The 1995 Sea-Doo HX was the first watercraft to win the prestigious NMMA IMTEC award (now the NMMA Innovation Award).

Sea-Doo Limited edition XP785

Bombardier also released a monumental watercraft called the Sea-Doo XP 785, a limited edition performance model featuring the new 787 “slant” engine featuring the RAVE system perfected in Ski-Doo snowmobiles to change exhaust timing to maximize low end torque and top end RPM. This would be a historical model introduction that would go on to be the winningest racing runabout watercraft model of all time.

Watercraft racing would be close to its all-time peak in popularity and the biggest names in the sport were now competing in the Pro Runabout class with the Sea-Doo X-TEAM led by the sport’s most popular rider, ‘the flyin fish’ Chris Fischetti. The Sea-Doo brand was also growing its involvement with the Pro Wakeboard tour as wakeboarding was quickly overtaking traditional skiing as the most popular tow sport. Enthusiasts began to realize they could be pulled by the Sea-Doo GT model watercraft making wakeboarding easier, less expensive, and more accessible to more people.

Innovation in the three-seater category continued to grow that segment with the Sea-Doo GTX receiving a power upgrade in 1995 with the addition of the 657 Rotax engine and first ever touring seat option for a plusher ride. Personal watercraft was the hottest recreational product in the industry and the Sea-Doo dealer network could not get enough product to fill demand.

Bombardier also became very proactive in the areas of social responsibility and boater education with the “Boat Smart From the Start” campaign. To gain public attention boating safety and responsible watercraft operation the Sea-Doo brand was partnered with the world’s most popular TV show of the time, and a show that’s theme was water safety, Baywatch. Many of the actors made public appearances at boating events promoting safe boating practices as well as lending their time for Public Service Announcements for proper watercraft use and wearing Personal Floatation Devices (PFD).

Valcourt, Québec – For a decade, BRP’s design and innovation (D&I) team has consistently won design awards from globally recognised design institutions. This year the company received two red dot awards and three Good Design awards.

The Red Dot Design Awards is a prestigious international design competition based in Germany. More than 1,800 manufacturers and designers from 58 countries submitted a total of 4,515 product designs to this year’s competition. BRP’s Can-Am Outlander ATV and Sea-DooRXP-X won in the transportation category. These awards bring BRP’s total to 14 Red Dot awards since 2005.

The historic Good Design awards, the oldest and most important award program worldwide, are hosted by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies. Thousands of manufacturers from 38 countries submitted their products. BRP took home three Good Design awards this year for the Sea-Doo GTI 130 PWC, the Can-Am Commander side-by-side vehicle and the Ski-Doo Skandic Tundra LT ACE 600 snowmobile. These wins now brig BRP’s total to six Good Design awards.

To add to this recognition, the D&I team designed and developed, for the second year in a row, the F1 Grand Prix du Canada trophies. BRP’s design team was selected last year to develop the model.

“Our products are renowned worldwide for their design and innovation,” said Denys Lapointe, executive vice-president, Design & Innovation. “Our group has garnered more than 35 international design awards. Being recognised by the International design community brings an enormous amount of pride to all designers at BRP”.

“PWCToday.com’s six-person selection committee awarded an amazing 9.14 average out of 10 to the 2012 Sea-Doo RXP-X* and nearly a perfect 10 in the fun factor category,” said John Salvatore of PWCToday.com and the Watercraft Superstore. “From the looks to the handling, every rider had nothing but praise for this watercraft.”

This is BRP’s second Ski of the Year award with the 2011 Sea-Doo GTI SE 130 model taking the top spot last year. This year, the 2012 Sea-Doo RXP-X* was judged side-by-side with the best new watercraft from the industry by a variety of riders of varying skill and experience levels in multiple categories. With its improved rider ergonomics and new hull design, the ability of the new Sea-Doo RXP-X* to allow riders to fully realize their performance potential led to high marks in overall fun.

“BRP focuses on elevating the consumer experience for every product we build. For many riders, the Sea-Doo RXP-X* redefines the high-performance watercraft,” said Yves Leduc, vice-president and general manager for the North America division. “Winning the second straight PWCToday.com Ski of the Year award chosen by real riders is the result of BRP’s dedication to developing designs and technologies that focus on improving the riders’ experience.”

The new Sea-Doo RXP-X commands attention on any waterway with an ominous visual appeal, the distinctive new ErgoLock system and the tight-turning T3 hull. BRP’s ErgoLock system received high praise for its angled footwell wedges and a gradually narrowing seat designed to better connect the rider to the watercraft. It reduces upper body fatigue by allowing the rider to ride with more confidence and less effort. BRP’s ErgoLock system compliments the tight turning aspect of the new, lean-in style T3 hull that test riders noted as providing near effortless turning capabilities.

“BRP continues to be a trendsetter,” stated Chris Dawson, vice-president and general manager, International division. “With the introduction of the Sea-Doo RXP-X* 260 watercraft, state of-the-art technologies designed to increase product performance allow BRP to maintain its status as the recognized industry leader in innovation.”

BRP’s Sea-Doo RXP-X 260 watercraft also won a 2012 Red Dot award earlier this year for product design in the transportation category. The Red Dot Design Awards is a prestigious international design competition in which more than 1,800 manufacturers and designers from 58 countries submitted a total of 4,515 product designs.